Friday, August 14, 2015

Rape at the Radisson

A Haverhill woman won a $4 million verdict Tuesday against the companies that owned and managed the Radisson Hotel parking garage where she was raped, in what may be the largest award for such a case in Massachusetts history.

The jury determined that the companies were negligent in not providing proper security in the Stuart Street parking garage, especially in light of a rape that occurred there 12 days before the attack on Kira Wahlstrom.

With interest, the value of the award for Wahlstrom, now 41, increases to an estimated $6.6 million, said her lawyer, Don Keenan.

The verdict will “certainly reverberate through the business community to be more responsible owners,” said Martin Healy, chief legal counsel to the Massachusetts Bar Association. “Hopefully, this [case] will result in better protection and better safeguards for the public.”

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